Have you seen the underwater photographer ratings on ScubaLinx? Not only are the ratings totally arbitrary, but anecdotal evidence suggests that they use these rating systems (this particular one, and others) as a weapon against people who they don't like, or people who pull advertising from their websites. I am rated a whopping 1.43 out of 10, and they grabbed an entertaining photo of me that they do not have permission to use (which paints me in a negative light).

Ken Knezick and some others are taking action against the parent company, which owns Cyberdiver, ScubaLinx, ScubaPoll, and a total of 45 related domains. All of them are hosted here:

Hey, it was an honor just to nominated and I'm quite flattered to be in the ranks with such talented people. None of you have yet earned the title of "World's Worst Underwater Photographer". Good luck trying to get below me on that list. I've shut that guy down more than once in the past for copyright infringements by sending a cease & desist order to his hosting company. So he doesn't like me too much.

If you have been violated by this guy, please do get in touch with Ken, Eric or myself. Especially on copyright infringements that you have documented or that are current.

That site is missing a lot of world-class photographers, far better than some posted on that site. Mike, you have my vote. At LEAST A 1.43 like Eric got, but many up there, including Bonnie Pelnar should be in the high 7-8 at the least.

Joe

Joe BelangerAuthor, Catalina Island - All you Need to Knowwww.californiaunderwater.comwww.visitingcatalina.com

Thanks Joe, for your generous vote. I'm certainly not in the ranks of many of the names listed there but that list is all out of whack. I think it was posted there as a way to intimidate any photographer that might think about going after this guy for copyright infringement. I know of a lot of people who are afraid to stand up to them/him so they just let him get away with it. I'm glad to see this come to the surface.

I'm a web designer who also loves UW photography. Now that I've said that, I would expect our friend to start a web design poll (currently under construction) so their "quarter million consumers" can put me at the bottom of that list too. I see they have a "coming soon" page for Portal Sites, Forums and Photography Publications so I wonder who will be the next victim.

I've recently discovered that blog too and have sent DMCA requests to Google to get the IP addresses of those who posted there and to have the content removed.

I voted only mentally. I get enough junk email and don't need any more from someone like that. I have been diving for 28 years and shooting pics since 1984. I've written for virtually every dive magazine in existence, spoken at numerous dive and travel expos, worked as a volunteer photographer for the Boy Scouts, was a key tool provider for the southern California Whale Rescue Unit, and I have seen A LOT of people like that come and go in various functional roles. The Internet only makes it harder to control those with unethical intentions.

Joe

Joe BelangerAuthor, Catalina Island - All you Need to Knowwww.californiaunderwater.comwww.visitingcatalina.com

Yes, it is obvious the ratings are based on nothing. It is interesting that if you are rated a 8 you have a rating of ~8 in all categorys, and then thouse with a rating of 2 have ~2 in all categorys. How does that work?

Now Erics low score in the environmentally friendly category may be reasonable after he admitted poking that poor jelly with a stick.

But he should at least have a 10 in the website category. After all didnt his website (wetpixel) win the best underwater photography website award...

ScubaLinx has added a Cozumel section and put my clients Aqua Safari and Scuba Club Cozumel at the bottom of the list. Gee, I wonder why! <_< This will no doubt raise a few eyebrows since they're both top notch operations. But he missed a couple of others who he rated very high and their web sites also got very high ratings. Guess he's not paying attention. By the way Scuba Club Cozumel is open now.

Funny how this guy got his "quarter million independent dive consumers" to vote so fast!!

Also the owners of the Cuan Law and Lammer Law have asked me to make it known to the dive community that they are NOT a paying advertiser and DO NOT support the activites of this guy. CDNN also had banners for SUUNTO, who told me that they never paid a penny for advertising. They had no idea that there were ads for their products on these web sites.

There must be some mistake. I'm not listed! Is that because of my reputation for issuing proceedings?

I buy my own photographic kit. Diving equipment manufacturers and diving services suppliers get even-handed treatment from me whether they choose to advertise in the publications I write for or not. All the equipment I get on loan is returned as soon as it is finished with.Did you know you can now get Diver Mag as an iPad/Android app?